The theater year in review

Since 2010, the La Jolla Playhouse has offered its Without Walls program, designed to break down the “walls” of traditional theater: plays staged inside cars, at a botanical garden, in Little Italy. This year the Playhouse offered an entire festival of nontraditional, site-specific works. By all reports, it was a success.

As was the inaugural San Diego Fringe Festival, a three-day affair held at various downtown venues. Fringe brought in acts from around the country, even overseas. The only persistent criticism: it was too short.

Which allowed almost no time for word-of-mouth to spread, in particular about Sean Sullivan’s “Best of Fringe” solo performance in Baby Redboot’s Revenge. Word has it that both festivals will have longer runs in 2014.